Prevalence of polypharmacy in community-dwelling older adults from seven centres in five European countries: a cross-sectional study of DO-HEALTH.
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BORIS DOI
Publisher DOI
PubMed ID
35487733
Description
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of polypharmacy and characteristics associated with polypharmacy in older adults from seven European cities.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional study of baseline data from DO-HEALTH.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
DO-HEALTH enrolled 2157 community-dwelling adults age 70 and older from seven centres in Europe. Participants were excluded if they had major health problems or Mini-Mental State Examination Score <24 at baseline.
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES
Extensive information on prescription and over-the-counter medications were recorded. Polypharmacy was defined as the concomitant use of five or more medications, excluding vitamins or dietary supplements. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association of sociodemographic factors (age, sex, years of education, living situation and city) and health-related indicators (number of comorbidities, cognitive function, frailty status, body mass index (BMI), prior fall, self-rated health and smoking status) with polypharmacy.
RESULTS
27.2% of participants reported polypharmacy ranging from 16.4% in Geneva to 60.8% in Coimbra. In the multivariable logistic regression analyses, older age (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.10), greater BMI (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.12) and increased number of comorbidities (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.92 to 2.36) were associated with polypharmacy. Women were less likely to report polypharmacy than men (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.51 to 0.84). In comparison to participants from Zurich, participants from Coimbra were more likely to report polypharmacy (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.56 to 3.55), while participants from Geneva or Toulouse were less likely to report polypharmacy ((OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.59 and OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.96), respectively). Living situation, smoking status, years of education, prior fall, cognitive function, self-rated health and frailty status were not significantly associated with polypharmacy.
CONCLUSION
Polypharmacy is common among relatively healthy older adults, with moderate variability across seven European cities. Independent of several confounders, being a woman, older age, greater BMI and greater number of comorbidities were associated with increased odds for polypharmacy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT01745263.
To investigate the prevalence of polypharmacy and characteristics associated with polypharmacy in older adults from seven European cities.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional study of baseline data from DO-HEALTH.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
DO-HEALTH enrolled 2157 community-dwelling adults age 70 and older from seven centres in Europe. Participants were excluded if they had major health problems or Mini-Mental State Examination Score <24 at baseline.
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES
Extensive information on prescription and over-the-counter medications were recorded. Polypharmacy was defined as the concomitant use of five or more medications, excluding vitamins or dietary supplements. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association of sociodemographic factors (age, sex, years of education, living situation and city) and health-related indicators (number of comorbidities, cognitive function, frailty status, body mass index (BMI), prior fall, self-rated health and smoking status) with polypharmacy.
RESULTS
27.2% of participants reported polypharmacy ranging from 16.4% in Geneva to 60.8% in Coimbra. In the multivariable logistic regression analyses, older age (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.10), greater BMI (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.12) and increased number of comorbidities (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.92 to 2.36) were associated with polypharmacy. Women were less likely to report polypharmacy than men (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.51 to 0.84). In comparison to participants from Zurich, participants from Coimbra were more likely to report polypharmacy (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.56 to 3.55), while participants from Geneva or Toulouse were less likely to report polypharmacy ((OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.59 and OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.96), respectively). Living situation, smoking status, years of education, prior fall, cognitive function, self-rated health and frailty status were not significantly associated with polypharmacy.
CONCLUSION
Polypharmacy is common among relatively healthy older adults, with moderate variability across seven European cities. Independent of several confounders, being a woman, older age, greater BMI and greater number of comorbidities were associated with increased odds for polypharmacy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT01745263.
Date of Publication
2022-04-29
Publication Type
Article
Keyword(s)
clinical pharmacology geriatric medicine primary care
Language(s)
en
Contributor(s)
de Godoi Rezende Costa Molino, Caroline | |
Sadlon, Angélique | |
Theiler, Robert | |
Orav, John E | |
Vellas, Bruno | |
Rizzoli, Rene | |
Kressig, Reto W | |
Kanis, John A | |
Guyonnet, Sophie | |
Lang, Wei | |
Egli, Andreas | |
Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike A |
Additional Credits
Series
BMJ open
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN
2044-6055
Access(Rights)
open.access